This week's starting word is "doritos"
I'll get right to it. So Monday (pday) last week, after finishing up with writing, my companions, some elders from my zone, and I all had some down time in the residence before evening class started. I can neither confirm nor deny that we may had wrestling matches.
Nah don't freak out we stayed on hands and knees so people were less likely to get hurt. Everybody got really bad rug-burns that are now lovely scabs on our elbows and knees. Oh and a side note, no one beat me. (we have an elder here who wrestled at the air-force academy, but luckily he wasn't there at the time, then someone surely would've cracked a skull)
As for the usual news, I'm still a busy bee. Still up at 6:30am, and studying and eating until 9:30pm. It's funny, every minute of class is usually filled, but sometimes our teachers still give us little homework assignments, which are super hard to find time to do, because we just don't have time (except pdays ok gimme a break)
At some point this week, some Mission Presidents in training came to our class to teach us a little lesson... and they were Brazilian! So for the first time I got to hear some Portuguese (albeit, brazilian variations) straight from the horse's mouth! It was really cool and strange to hear it. I understood a lot, not perfectly, but a lot they said, but they spoke simply, and were there to practice english too. It was still really sweet though! It was strange, Portuguese is a language spoken with the throat and nose, whereas english is a language spoken mostly in the mouth. It will take some getting used to.
Sooo, Tuesday was a big day.
We ate dinner, and left a bit early to head to the gym/conference hall for choir rehearsal. Everyone piles up outside the entrance in this hallway to wait for them to open the doors. They keep them shut so they can do sound checks inside, and elders and sisters wait outside so they can get good spots in the choir (everyone knew Bednar was coming, so they wanted to be in the choir, we were probably 800-900 people, in a hallway).
So were sitting there, it's crowded, it's hot. There were some Elders and Sisters with me form my zone, so we were chatting, the usual, when an idea came up. We thought up the idea to start singing to see if we could get the whole crowd to join in. So I took the lead, and gave a countdown, and then the handful of us in the middle of this massive crowd started singing "The Spirit of God". It was a little awkward at first, people looked at us weird, and then it took off like a rocket. Within 30 seconds every missionary (like I said, hundreds, in a little hallway) started singing. It was awesome. We sang loud and proud, but stopped before the 2nd verse (well nobody knows it well enough) Some people clapped at the end, it was hilarious.
But that's not all. We brainstormed, and then got the everybody to sing "Army of Helaman", "Called to Serve", and then finally, the good ol' "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam". Whenever the sun-BEAM part came all the missionaries in the hallway jumped at the same time like back in primary, it was hysterical. Y'know, the spirit was nice and strong too.
But THEN, this guy came out and made us be quiet to make an announcement and then let us in, didn't even have the courtesy to let us finish...
Then the devotional started, and just as planned, Elder Bednar walked in. It was a really cool devotional. I would love to elaborate on what he spoke on, but I'll keep it simple. He talked about the Savior's ministry, and different examples through the scriptures where the Savior ministered to people "One by one". His message was that our Heavenly Father and Christ love us infinitely, but most importantly, one by one, or individually. It was really cool, and I'm not doing it justice. We performed his song, "One by One" after his talk, but he told us the reason he was letting missionaries perform his song, and it was because he wants us, the missionaries, to be the first to know and hear the message, that we are all loved, one by one. Sniffles everywhur.
Change of topic, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I was sick with a lovely cold. It wasn't horrible, but the main problem was that it made it really hard to get good rest at night, and have energy in general. So, I missed quite a bit of class time so I could rest. I did not like it. The worst part was missing class, and having to stay in a boring dorm all day. I would study, but class is just so much more fulfilling. It was a bummer. I'm feeling quite a bit better now, but I've still got a residual cough and headache, but nothing major.
Random fact: Elder Karthigeyan has never seen a live pig.
Speaking of companions, well, it's the same old story. Elder Karthigeyan still works hard, but still has a bit of trouble with the language. Elder Francis is still not leaving home behind. He prints out his emails and re-reads a lot of them every night, and looks at photos of loved ones every night before bed... and if that doesn't make someone homesick I dunno what does. Elder Karthigeyan and I encourage and let him know they're just fine, and that doing things like that can be a distraction. He says "yeah I know they're fine, it's not distracting me" ... well i dunno. Maybe I shouldn't even mention things like that, but it is what it is. We still appreciate and uplift him though in what ways we can.
We recently got our flight itinerary for our departures to the mission field. I haven't looked mine over super thoroughly, but I'm heading on June 21, like 4am (uggggggghhhh) to Cincinnati Ohio, then Paris (hey I was just there like a month ago) then Lisbon. Should be fun, I'll be going with like 8 other missionaries. I'm taking it normal, no stress, and I'm pretty excited. It's going to be a huge change for sure. I'm kinda pampered here, in many definitions. Elder Karthigeyan is going to Porto, the northern half of Portugal, so he's leaving a day before us. Elder Francis (has the same itinerary as me) got his and was just (practically) jumping for joy. He's super excited to call his family at the airport, excited to go to paris, excited to see new places, try new foods... I'm excited to teach people and speak portuguese.... He still really struggles with the language. Yesterday I reviewed present tense normal conjugations (week 1 stuff) with him and Elder Karthigeyan because they really needed it. I did it because it actually started to bother me, hearing only infinitives in sentences.
Okay I'm sorry, I shouldn't talk so negatively about him Disregard the last two paragraphs. I just really hope and pray that he has the gumption to get things done when the time requires (and it will). In no way, shape, or form do I think he's a bad kid, or a bad person. He's got good desires, just sometimes I think his heart lies in the wrong place.
Anyways, there is more to say, but not a ton of time. I should call it, before I start ranting more.
Hope you guys enjoy the email, I love to hear from you guys.
Ci vediamo,
Elder Ward
Fun fact/ps:
"esparar" has two definitions in english. It means "to wait" and "to hope". I think that's pretty cool and teaches a lesson at the same time. Think about it.
Thanks for the package Aunt Kim and you guys! Love the ties! I'll wear Dustin's with pride!
A good ol' pday time. Yeah, someone got a mini-bowling set into the MTC.
Elder Robinson, the one farmboy kid I talked about a while back, thinks it's fun to play a (stupid) game where you punch your opponent in the shoulder until the other quits... Anyways here's the aftermath. He said he had fun. (I didn't play, it was someone else.)
My view from the dorm window. I know it's a bad photo, but I was sick and bored, the point is them moun'ins anyways
And a sweet photo to top it off.
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